California declares emergency as wildfires spread

An air tanker drops fire retardant chemicals on the Lockheed wildfire which burns out of control in a rugged region of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Bonny Doon, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 forcing the evacuation of more than a thousand residents. (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Paul Chinn)
— AP

An air tanker drops fire retardant chemicals on the Lockheed wildfire which burns out of control in a rugged region of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Bonny Doon, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 forcing the evacuation of more than a thousand residents. (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Paul Chinn)
/ AP

DAVENPORT, Calif. 
Fire crews fanned out Friday across a parched California where wind-whipped wildfires have forced hundreds of people to flee their homes and led to an emergency declaration in Santa Cruz County.

In the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Lockheed Fire has blackened close to 8 square miles of remote wilderness and prompted mandatory evacuations of the mountain communities of Swanton and Bonny Doon, which have about 2,400 residents and several wineries.

Chris Sokoloff, 40, an electrician who moved to Bonny Doon from Portland, Ore., a week ago, spent the night at an evacuation center in Santa Cruz.

"It's really hit home this morning, seeing all the ash on the vehicles," Sokoloff said. "I got a big red hockey bag and that's all I got right now."

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi declared a state of emergency for Santa Cruz County as a step toward getting federal assistance for local governments and private property owners.

"We're entering the height of fire season in California. We need to prepare," he said in Davenport, a coastal town near the Lockheed Fire.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was out of state attending the funeral of his mother-in-law, Eunice Shriver, is scheduled to visit the fire zone for a briefing Saturday morning.

The blaze started Wednesday about 10 miles north of Santa Cruz. By Friday evening, it was 15 percent contained, CalFire spokesman Daniel Berland. A change in winds has shifted the fire away from Bonny Doon, but a little closer to Swanton, he said.

Berland credited Bonny Doon residents with putting up a "defensible space" by clearing brush and debris from around their homes.

The fire sent huge plumes of smoke across Monterey Bay. It damaged two small structures and was threatening more than 1,000 homes and buildings. There have been no reports of injuries. The cause is under investigation.

The steep, rugged terrain and dense vegetation has made it difficult to contain the blaze, so firefighters are focused on keeping flames away from homes, said Jim Stunkel, a battalion chief from San Jose.

"As the brush ignites, it's like a fireworks explosion, and the sparks rain down where the ranch houses are," he said.

The fire was moving toward Bonny Doon and more populated areas around Highway 9. As winds picked up Friday afternoon, officials worried the gusts could ignite more fires and force more evacuations.

"The winds are going in so many different directions at the same time ... We can't build a line big enough," said Rick Hutchinson, a CalFire incident commander. "Unfortunately, if it does advance far enough to the southeast, it could ultimately lead to an evacuation of the Highway 9 area."

At the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, animal care workers were assisting more than 100 animals rescued from the fire zone, including goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, alpacas, llamas and horses.

Hannah Good, a veterinarian who lives in Bonny Doon with her partner and two children, said workers had helped her evacuate her birds, cats, donkey, pony and dog.